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A copy of 'Super Mario 64' sold for over $1.5 million, the most ever paid for a video game:
A copy of "Super Mario 64" has sold for more than $1.5 million, smashing the record for the most expensive sale ever of a video game at auction.
The sealed copy of the classic Nintendo 64 video game fetched $1.56 million including fees on Sunday.
Dallas-based auction house Heritage said it was the first time a game had gone for more than $1 million. The sale topped a record set just two days ago, when another Nintendo game, "The Legend of Zelda," was sold for $870,000, the auctioneers said.
[...] "After the record-breaking sale of the first game in the Zelda series on Friday, the possibility of surpassing $1 million on a single video game seemed like a goal that would need to wait for another auction," Heritage Auctions video games specialist Valarie McLeckie said in a statement.
"We were shocked to see that it turned out to be in the same one! We are proud to have been a part of this historic event," she added.
Previously:
"Legend of Zelda" Auction Sets Bar for the Most Expensive Video Game at $870,000
Unopened Super Mario Bros. Game from 1986 Sells for $660,000
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @01:45PM (12 children)
Paying that much dough for a copy of a video game is completely nuts.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @01:51PM (2 children)
Unless your goal is not to own a video game but to launder money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @02:20PM (1 child)
not sure a single transaction qualifies as laundering.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Monday July 12 2021, @04:13PM
It's the other side of the transaction that happens behind the scenes that makes it money laundering, assuming it involves an illegal act, which likely includes dodging taxes unless you have enough money to pay enough lawyers to argue that it doesn't.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @02:31PM
The purchaser just wants something to play during his space tourism ten minute suborbital flight that he's going to buy.
(Score: 2) by EJ on Monday July 12 2021, @02:37PM (4 children)
If you only have $1000 to your name, is paying $1 for a candy bar completely nuts?
To a billionaire, this is pocket change.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @03:18PM (2 children)
Yes, actually. Is that the answer you were looking for?
Perhaps you are the kind of person who's dependent on others to bail you out if bad stuff happens. If you actually want to be a responsible adult, however, you should have at least 6 months of expenses in savings for an emergency fund before ever considering spending money on frivolous expenses (e.g., an entire dollar for a candy bar). If you only have $1000 to your name, either you're terrible at money management and vulnerable to a serious problem if you ever have a financial emergency... or, you're poor and can buy a whole lot of flour or rice or whatever to feed yourself better rather than a candy bar for that $1.
I get the metaphor here, but it doesn't make it any less nuts. You seem to think that a price should become more reasonable just because a buyer has more money? Would you appreciate it if a restaurant profiled you, looked at your income, and adjusted things accordingly? "So, a Big Mac and french fries -- that will be $2500. What's that? Sounds like a lot? But you're a multimillionaire... thought you wanted lunch? Isn't that pocket change to you?"
No, there's nothing rational about paying over a million dollars for a shrink wrapped video game. I suppose if there were more of an established market for old video games at such prices, maybe you could have an argument about it potentially being a good investment. Right now, though, it's still a lottery -- and I'd wager this payment was just some sort of "I want to have the most toys!" thing.
Which is a large part of what being rich seems to be about for a lot of people. Accumulate more and better shit to have bragging rights over your neighbor. Which is, frankly, nuts. As in, it's likely a symptom of some sort of psychological complex -- inferiority, narcissism, could be lots of things. But likely nuts.
And before you accuse me of being some sort of snob or whatever who hates on other people's interests, I'm not. If the buyer here had a lifelong dream to own a shrink wrapped copy of this specific game, and he's going to put it on his shelf and he'll stare at it every day and it will make him happy, more power to him. Some people like to spend money on expensive cars or luxury vacations or luxury meals or whatever. It makes their life more fulfilled. Okay, you have your interest that makes you happy.
But if you'd ask me to wager, as I said, I bet the buyer here is just looking for bragging rights. Just a quest for getting one-up on the other guy... "Oooh... look the shrink wrap on this is graded A++, the highest rating possible from blah-blah rater... and the box condition is... bet that beats your copy of Pitfall with the ding on the corner, George. And that crappy Space Invaders copy you have Jim, where there's a flaw in the shrink wrap on the bottom. Ha! I've finally beat you all..."
Whatever, dude.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by EJ on Monday July 12 2021, @05:59PM (1 child)
You're talking like a poor person. Once you make more than six figures (not living in a stupid place like California), any additional money is just meaningless fluff.
My house is paid for. I intend for it to be my forever home. My car is paid for. I'll replace it when it starts to fail. I have more than two years worth of salary in liquid assets.
I still wouldn't pay $150 for a burger, nor should a billionaire. The issue is that you're looking at things from the perspective of someone like you or me, who doesn't have a billion dollars. Once you have the capability of looking past the financial struggles of people who need to make sure they can pay their bills, you will be able to comprehend that spending $2 million on a car, a video game cartridge, or anything else isn't nuts when you have over a billion dollars.
Did you know that a private jet (ignoring the purchase price of the jet itself) can cost around $50k PER FLIGHT? So, while you're scouring websites to find a discount sub-$100 economy ticket, billionaires are paying $50k just for the privilege of taking a trip in their own plane that they already paid millions for. They don't care, though. That money doesn't mean anything to them because they have billions.
So...whatever, dude.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @10:21PM
Or like a rational person. Just because you can mod me troll and therefore effectively make me invisible to others doesn't mean I don't have a point.
Actually, it is kinda nuts unless they also have replacement income to keep up what they're throwing away. You ever look at what happens to lottery winners who suddenly get $100 million or whatever? Lots of those stories don't end well. If you spend $2 million on various things with a billion dollars, you get 500 things. Then you're done. Game over. Now try to keep all your expensive toys unless you've planned for it.
Yes, I'm not a moron.
You think that's what I'm doing? I have a decent amount of money in the bank too. I don't waste my time skimping and saving all the time. Go back and read my post. I say IF you only have $1000 (the scenario YOU presented), it's irrational to spend money, even a dollar, without thinking a bit about it. If you have $10,000 in the bank, it gets easier. If you have $100,000 in the bank, maybe it's not worth your time to spend an hour searching flights to save an extra $20. Maybe your time is worth more than that. AND, I went on to say that some people like to have joy in their lives, so spending a bit more on an occasional luxury item that makes them happy makes sense.
I was addressing your specific scenario of a guy with $1000 net worth.
Or, you know, they could act like reasonable people and actually use that money for something useful, something that benefits others or society as a whole, like charitable endeavors. To me, it's not only "nuts" to spend millions on a video game, but borderline immoral. If I had a billion dollars, ~$10 million would go in my personal account, which would allow me to live off the interest for the rest of my days (and probably have a LOT to spare each year...). The other $990 million would gradually get distributed in ways to try to do some good in the world.
I have a friend who is a multimillionaire. More like an acquaintance these days, but I've spent a week at one of his five houses. I know what the lifestyle can be like. But the thing is, he owned a private jet for a while, then sold it. He doesn't travel as much these days, and if he wants to, he could charter a flight for a fraction of just owning (let alone using) the jet. He owned a max of five houses at one time, but got rid of three of them now. And while the remainder are on the larger side of "normal," they're not "mansions."
He collected "toys" for a while, after being a self-made guy. Then he figured out having all the toys isn't really worth it. He doesn't give a shit what other people think of him or whether they have some luxury BS. He sold his Tesla because he wanted a back-up camera and lane-changing things for his wife, and they didn't offer it at the time. Tesla, according to him, was apparently focused on people who want toys and stuff to drive fast, not practical options for an older couple. So he bitched and complained to them and then gave them their car back. He doesn't need "status symbols" to be important, though admittedly it took him a few years to figure that out, I think...
I'm not saying this is the only way to live, but he's not the only rich person who does this. There are billionaires with reasonable size houses and who don't waste $50,000 at the drop of a hat when it costs them three minutes to save $49,000.
You do realize my valediction in my previous post was not addressed to you but to the imagined guy spending lots of money on a video game, right? If I didn't make that clear, sorry. But I wasn't really being flippant to you, rather to a guy with a "gotta get the most toys" mentality.
(Score: 3, Funny) by shortscreen on Monday July 12 2021, @04:04PM
Completely nuts? That depends on whether it's a Payday bar.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Monday July 12 2021, @03:15PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 12 2021, @10:28PM
I agree. It would be more reasonable to sell it for $870,000.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday July 13 2021, @05:15PM
This wasn't just someone paying $1.5 Million dollars for a video game. This was a collector paying for a mint copy of a well played classic video game. That video game will not be getting played.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/super-mario-auction-video-game-record-scli-intl/index.html [cnn.com]
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